Abstract

Development of bacterial resistance to presently available antimicrobial agents and their side effects has necessitated the search for new antimicrobial agent. Hence, here we searched for alternative and natural phytochemicals from plants used in traditional medicine are considered as good alternatives to synthetic chemicals. We report here the antimicrobial effect of various extracts and isolates from Cordia obliqua on oral pathogenic strains by zone of inhibition assay Cordia obliqua seeds and leaves extracts were evaluated for antimicrobial activity against some oral pathogenic strains of Gram-positive (Streptococcus mutans, S.mitis and S. sanguis) and Gram-negative (A. actinomycetemcomitans, P. gingivalis and B. forsythus) bacteria and fungal stain (Candida albicans) . The use of methanolic extract and isolated compounds from Cordia obliqua seeds and leaves as a potential antimicrobial agent in prevention and treatment of oral infections and diseases has been suggested. Methanolic extracts of the seed and leaves of the plant produced good inhibition zones against the test organisms, and ethyl acetate fraction of the extract shown significant significant activity